Autobios for new family generations

[Larry Alley]

All
As a newbie to this Area 603 site, I thought I would invite you all to this question.
As an older generation, I am attempting to Autobio my life story, and incorporate the attendant historical events within the personal story. The goal being to provide family later generations, a sense of personal as well as National History. This has proven to be a duanting task, requiring RandD history and editing. My writing skills tend to be technical, as my past has been Logistics and Avionics.
Comments and suggestions are very welcome.
end

[Lisa Jackson]

Hi Larry,
I'm not quite sure what you're asking for. If you have the technical writing background, I'm guessing you can organize your thoughts quite well, and perhaps even organize an outline of what you want to write.

I've started on a similar venture, all though it's not at the top of my list right now. I started with a chart - one block/section for each year of my life - (I wrote my age and the year) and I went through and brainstormed particular memories I had for each. I purposely chose not to stress over it, so I wrote down what came to me and then put the chart aside until the next day, wrote more memories, etc. Once I started documenting, more memories flooded in.

My chart really needs to be in a series of notebooks now.

The next step, for me, would be to plug in relevant historical data points - probably in a color that stands out and probably in timeline form. The details aren't a biggie at this stage, but having the timeline near my memories will start the ideas flowing.

It is a daunting task, so giving yourself freedom to only focus on a small part each time you sit down, may help. The one great thing about autobios is they are linear, and that helps so much with organization.

I can point you to some genealogy-related sites, if you think that would be of any value. I do a lot of online research for articles and my own writing, and I have a lot of NH contacts on a variety of subjects, so feel free to ask for anything. If I don't have the info, I probably know someone who does. :)

-Lisa

[Larry Alley]

Ms Jackson
Thanks for the reply. Your process methods are very similar to my experience so far.
I had a period of 4 months that required my off line attention, so i started a biography. Notebooks, rough linear time lines, coalation of relatives' locations and their history. Ended up with a pile of material. Set this aside for better than 2 years. The whole idea of compiling a family history nagged at me, so i resurrected the pile, sorted out and tossed out, finally getting some order. Then the idea struck me, this is a kind of memoir, and i guess the writing bug bit hard. My son encouraged the writing, offering to edit as needed. My computer bit the dust about then, so i was able to upgrade technically to a HP Media set. Reason shows me that the Forces of Muse were operating full time!!
Anyway, today i have completed the first draft, some 270 odd pages, printed and sent out to my grandchild, a 12 year old, going on 30... She is to write an essay for her summer project on my writings. A budding editor for sure.
As to the technical side of all this, I find the internet a blessing and a curse. It has so many side trails, that discipline is really necessary. I used the history sources to incorporate the biography history events, occurring during my life story. The software i use has basics, some editing tools, and i use the graphics tools to enhance the final product.
So far, the project has taken some 3 years from pencil to publish, and i only actually printed the first 10 years of a possible 75, so i underestimated the scope.
My 2008 goal is to get the writings up to my middle age area and print.
One side light of all this, is that the incorporation of the history events, with appropriate foot notes, has made my reader, take a second look at the actual history rather than the spoon fed scholastics she has had so far.
Again thanks for the comments, and i certainly enjoy Area 603.
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[Patricia Henderson]

Larry, Our writer's group recently had a speaker who can help you with this question. Her name is Joan Day. Visit her web site for tips on writing a memoire. http://www.joandaymemoirs.com.
She gave us a handout of questions to ask ourselves and I find it very helpful. I noticed that she also lists these tips online.
Good luck!
Pat